Maine landlord-tenant law

You may not charge a fee to submit an application or to review or approve one. The only exception: you may charge the actual cost of one background check, one credit check or one other screening process, but only after telling the applicant that the law requires you to give them a complete copy of what the check returns, and you must then give it.

14 M.R.S. § 6030-H

The Maine Human Rights Act makes it unlawful to refuse to rent, set different terms, advertise a preference or ask about an applicant's race or color, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry, national origin or familial status, or about a past protection order. You also may not refuse to rent to someone, or set different terms, primarily because they receive public assistance, including housing subsidies. Check the coverage exceptions below and any independent federal duties before applying this summary.

5 M.R.S. § 4581-A

Maine requires several written disclosures before a tenant signs or pays a deposit. One decides whether the lease can be enforced: if the tenant will pay any mandatory or optional recurring fee, give a plain written total price disclosure listing the rent, each recurring fee, utility service costs and any other cost the tenant will pay, signed by both of you with a copy to each. A lease is unenforceable if you do not receive the signed disclosure.

14 M.R.S. § 6030-J 14 M.R.S. § 6030(4)

No section of Maine's landlord-tenant chapters (14 M.R.S. chapters 709, 710 and 710-A, read in full) requires a flood zone or flood history disclosure to a tenant. Other Maine laws were not checked for one.

14 M.R.S. ch. 709 14 M.R.S. ch. 710 14 M.R.S. ch. 710-A

Maine's landlord-tenant chapters, read in full, do not require you to give the tenant a written statement of the owner's name and address. Anyone authorized to sign a lease for the owner is treated as the owner's agent for service of court papers and for receiving notices and demands.

14 M.R.S. § 6023

A lease or tenancy at will may not require a security deposit of more than two months' rent. A security deposit is any advance of money, whatever it is called, whose main purpose is to secure the tenant's performance of the rental agreement.

14 M.R.S. § 6032 14 M.R.S. § 6031(2)

Return the full deposit, or a written statement itemizing the reasons for keeping any part together with the balance, within the time the written lease states (never more than 30 days). For a tenancy at will, the deadline is 21 days after the tenancy ends or the home is surrendered and accepted, whichever is later. Mailing the statement and payment to the tenant's last known address complies.

14 M.R.S. § 6033(2)

Keep deposits in an account at a bank or other financial institution, never mixed with your own assets, under terms that put them beyond the reach of your creditors (including a foreclosing lender or bankruptcy trustee) and allow transfer to a new owner or the tenant. On request, tell the tenant the name of the institution and the account number. Maine's deposit chapter, read in full, does not require you to pay interest on a deposit.

14 M.R.S. § 6038(1)

Maine's landlord-tenant chapters, read in full, do not require a move-in checklist or condition report. A dated written record still helps you separate normal wear and tear from damage when you itemize deposit deductions.

14 M.R.S. ch. 709 14 M.R.S. ch. 710 14 M.R.S. ch. 710-A

Rent is late only if it is not paid within 15 days after it is due. A late penalty may not exceed 4 percent of one month's rent, and you may charge one only if you told the tenant in writing, when the rental agreement was made, that a penalty of up to 4 percent of one month's rent may be charged.

14 M.R.S. § 6028

Maine's bad check chapter, read in full, sets no cap on a returned payment fee in a lease. It sets what a court can award for a dishonored check: if you send the statutory notice and the check writer does not pay within 10 days of receiving it, you may recover the check amount, court costs, your processing charges and interest at 12 percent a year, and the court may add a civil penalty of up to $150.

14 M.R.S. § 6071(1), (2)

Give at least 45 days' written notice before increasing rent or a mandatory recurring fee, and at least 75 days' written notice for a rent increase of 10 percent or more. If several increases within 12 months add up to 10 percent or more, the 75 days applies to the increase that brings the total to 10 percent. Any waiver of these notices, written or oral, is void.

14 M.R.S. § 6015

Except in an emergency or where it is impracticable, give the tenant reasonable notice of your intent to enter and enter only at reasonable times. Twenty-four hours' notice is presumed reasonable unless there is evidence otherwise. The tenant may not unreasonably refuse consent for you to inspect, make necessary or agreed repairs or improvements, supply services, or show the unit to buyers, lenders, tenants, workers or contractors.

14 M.R.S. § 6025(1), (2)

Every written or oral rental agreement carries a warranty that the dwelling is fit for human habitation. The definition includes mobile homes, apartments, buildings, other rented structures and their common areas. You may not maintain conditions that endanger or materially impair tenants' health or safety. Where you agree to provide heat, the system must be able to maintain at least 68 degrees Fahrenheit, measured 3 feet from exterior walls and 5 feet above the floor when it is minus 20 degrees outside.

14 M.R.S. § 6021(1), (2), (6) 14 M.R.S. § 6026(1)

If a dangerous condition would cost less than $500 or half a month's rent, whichever is greater, to fix, the tenant may notify you in writing, by certified mail with return receipt requested, of the intent to fix it at your expense. If you do not act within 14 days (or as promptly as an emergency requires), the tenant may have the work done with due professional care and, after giving you an itemized statement, deduct the actual and reasonable cost from rent.

14 M.R.S. § 6026(2)

Maine's landlord-tenant chapters, read in full, do not require deadbolts or other security devices or rekeying between tenants. They regulate lock changes by the tenant: a tenant may not change a lock without telling you and giving you a duplicate key within 48 hours.

14 M.R.S. ch. 709 14 M.R.S. ch. 710 14 M.R.S. ch. 710-A

At the time of each occupancy you must provide working smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors if they are not already there, and repair or replace them after the tenant tells you in writing about a problem. The tenant must keep them working, including keeping charged batteries in them, and may not disable them.

25 M.R.S. § 2464(9) 25 M.R.S. § 2468(5)

An eviction started within 6 months after the tenant did any of the following is presumed retaliatory, and no writ of possession issues unless you rebut the presumption: asserted rights under the rent increase, habitability, radon or recurring fee sections; complained in good faith to a code enforcement body; asked you in writing, in good faith, for required repairs; filed a reasonable fair housing complaint; told you the tenant or a minor child is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking; or reported sexual harassment by you or your agent.

14 M.R.S. § 6001(3)

An eviction without court process is illegal. You may not willfully interrupt or end any utility service, including water, heat, light, electricity, gas, telephone, sewer, elevator or refrigeration, even one you do not control, except temporarily while repairs are underway or in an emergency. You may not lock the tenant out or hold the tenant's property except by court process.

14 M.R.S. § 6014(1)

A rental with no fixed term is a tenancy at will in Maine. Either side ends it with at least 30 days' written notice, and if the tenant has paid rent past the date a 30-day notice would expire, the notice must run at least to the paid-through date. A landlord's notice must tell the tenant of the right to contest the termination in court.

14 M.R.S. § 6002

A tenant who moves out early and stops paying stays liable for rent and damages, but your recovery is reduced by the net rent you get, or could get, through reasonable efforts to re-rent. A lease term that charges a fee just for ending the tenancy is unenforceable, except to recover reasonable re-letting costs when the tenant broke the lease's notice terms, unpaid rent, or the cost of repairing damage the tenant caused. Such a term is also an unfair trade practice under 5 M.R.S. 207.

14 M.R.S. § 6010-A(1), (2) 14 M.R.S. § 6030(2)(E)

In a tenancy at will, once rent is 7 or more days in arrears you may end the tenancy on 7 days' written notice. The notice must state that ground, the amount of rent 7 or more days in arrears as of the date of the notice and the reinstatement statement whose wording the statute sets out, and must tell the tenant of the right to contest the termination in court. Under a written lease, the lease's own default terms govern; the 7-day notice applies if the lease has no termination or breach notice term.

14 M.R.S. § 6002(1), (2) 14 M.R.S. § 6001(1-B)

In a tenancy at will you may end the tenancy on 7 days' written notice, stating the ground, if you can prove the tenant, family or invitees caused substantial damage not repaired before the notice, caused or allowed a nuisance, made the unit unfit or violated the law regarding the tenancy, or for the other listed causes, including violence or threats against other tenants or your staff and an unauthorized occupant. Maine gives no cure period on these notices. Under a written lease, the lease's breach terms control, and this 7-day notice applies if the lease has none.

14 M.R.S. § 6002(1), (2) 14 M.R.S. § 6001(1-B)

Eviction process

An eviction in Maine is a forcible entry and detainer case in District Court. After the notice to quit expires, prepare and serve the court papers, then file the completed packet following the Judicial Branch's instructions. Residential service must include the Judicial Branch information sheet. The court must hold the hearing as soon as practicable and no later than 10 days after the return day, unless it grants a continuance for good cause.

14 M.R.S. § 6003 14 M.R.S. § 6004 Maine Judicial Branch: residential nonpayment guide

Store property a tenant leaves after vacating, or after a judgment for you, in a safe, dry, secured place, and mail the tenant written notice by first class mail with proof of mailing. If the tenant has left, send it to the last known address with an itemized list, saying you may dispose of the property if the tenant does not respond within 7 days.

14 M.R.S. § 6013(1), (2)

Small claims court in Maine handles a claim for money of up to $10,000, not counting interest and costs, since January 1, 2026 (it was $6,000 before). A small claim cannot involve title to real estate, and an eviction is a separate forcible entry and detainer case in District Court.

14 M.R.S. § 7482

No section of Maine's landlord-tenant chapters caps how much you may raise the rent; the state rules are about notice and a ban on increases while the unit breaches the warranty of habitability. Portland and South Portland impose local rent-increase requirements; selected city guidance and provisions are summarized below. Other municipal requirements remain unreviewed.

14 M.R.S. § 6015 14 M.R.S. § 6016